Sex in Movies Has Dropped Sharply, Yet Gotten More Graphic, Study Says

James Hibberd
·2 min read

It’s not your imagination: The amount of sex in movies has dropped sharply this century.

Despite a streaming boom, which has more content distributors with permissive content boundaries than ever before, a new study finds sex in film has declined dramatically since 2000.

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A study by film data analyst Stephen Follows cited by The Economist that tracked sex and nudity in major live-action films — with each instance ranked on a scale from “none” to “severe” — found the level of sex content in cinema has fallen by almost 40 percent. The number of films with no sexual content at all has risen from 20 percent per year to roughly 50 percent.

On the other hand, some of the scenes that are shown in movies nowadays are more graphic than what was permitted in the past. Examples cited include erect penises (in movies like May December) and characters performing oral sex while their partners were menstruating (Saltburn, Fair Play).

In case you’re wondering, the research also tracked the amount of drugs, violence and profanity in films. Profanity and drugs have slipped a bit since around 2014 or so, but are still near their previous highs. Violence dropped off a bit around the same time, but in the last few years has rebounded to be as commonplace as ever.

A previous casual study conducted last year by a Playboy writer found that the number of films on IMDb since 2010 that contain depictions of sex is the lowest since the 1960s.

The research follows a UCLA study last year that found Gen Z wants to see less sex in movies and TV. A slight majority (51 percent of the 1,500 surveyed) said they wanted to see more content about platonic relationships and friendships. While 47.5 percent said sex “isn’t needed” for most TV shows and movies, 44 percent felt romance is “overused.”

Studies have found Gen Z is having less sex in real life as well, with experts blaming social media messaging and distraction, online porn and the COVID-19 pandemic.

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